


Cassiopeia

by astralfreckles



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, French Kissing, Friends to Lovers, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 23:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6541858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralfreckles/pseuds/astralfreckles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Riley’s close enough to Farkle to map out the freckles on his cheeks and nose. She only now notices how many there are, and she feels so mystified that she swears they form constellations. There’s Cassiopeia, right there, high on his cheek bone."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cassiopeia

**Author's Note:**

> In some episodes, you can clearly see freckles on Corey’s face. So, I have it in my head as a distinctive feature of Farkle, and I wanted to incorporate it into a fic (hence, my username). This is set during their senior year. Also, it’s established that they are already best friends, and in case you’re unfamiliar with Farkle’s room, his ceiling is a planetarium. 
> 
> See the end note for a playist of songs I listened to while writing this. I used the songs for inspiration, and I think some of them fit Riarkle well. 
> 
> Thank you so much to @richavdgraysnn on tumblr for the shout out to this fic in the lovely edit you can see below! Go check out the full size edit [here.](http://richavdgraysnn.tumblr.com/post/148065035124/riarkle-stargazing-requested-by-clairedaring)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

It’s a quiet Friday night. Riley and Farkle are the type of students who would prefer to get all of their homework out of the way before the weekend actually starts. They’re so wrapped up in their chemistry work that Riley is shocked when she sees the numbers 11:30 on the clock next to Farkle’s bed. She rubs her eyes in disbelief.

“Wow, it’s a lot later than I thought. I should call my parents.”

Farkle hesitates for a minute and then proposes a solution to their problem. “Why don’t you just stay over? You don’t have anywhere to go tomorrow, right?”

She nods and makes her way over to the enormous windows in his room. A few minutes later, Farkle hears her say goodnight to her parents and feels the bed shift as she flops down next to him.

“No one’s using the guest rooms, right? Hey, can I borrow some of your clothes?”

“Yeah, of course.” As he’s walking to his dresser, he tries to think of a way to make her stay just a little bit longer. He’s fiddling with some sweatpants when he blurts out, “Are you tired? We could try to locate the constellations you mentioned before we started our homework. I know you always like taking time to look at the night sky.”

“Sure, my mind is still working overtime from balancing all of those equation anyway.” The last part comes out as a laugh, making Farkle laugh as well.

Riley takes the t-shirt and sweats he offers her and leaves to change in the bathroom. When she comes back, she notices his room is dark, illuminated now only by the stars above. Farkle has changed into flannels and a t-shirt and is lying on his back over the covers. Riley hesitates in the doorway, watching him as he inquisitively looks up at his ceiling. Then, she walks over to him and stands at the edge of his bed.

“Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes,” she says softly.

He sits up with a start at her words. He was so involved in his search that he didn’t hear her come in. “No problem,” he says as his eyes quickly scan her body, “…they look good on you.”

She tilts her head to the side to conceal the blush forming on her face and settles herself next to Farkle on the bed. They both lie down on their backs to get a better look at the night sky.

“I think I found Cassiopeia. Is that the one you were talking about?” Farkle asks.

“Yeah! It’s that cluster of stars, right?” Riley raises her right arm and points to an indistinguishable place in the sky.

“Hmm, no I think it’s these five over here,” he replies as he lifts his left arm parallel to hers.

“Wait, where?” Riley tries to sound playful, but she’s actually getting a little flustered. She doesn’t even really know why she wants to find this particular constellation. She always thought its simplicity was beautiful, just like Cassiopeia herself. She just wants to know that it’s real, that it’s up there, and that it will _always_ be up there.

Farkle must catch on to this because he takes hold of her wrist and positions her hand so her finger is pointing at the constellation. She's so preoccupied with the feeling of Farkle’s hand on her wrist that she doesn’t even look at the constellation. At first, he seems to be unaware of what he’s doing, but when he does notice what’s happened, he freezes. They’re both very quiet for a few seconds until Farkle finally whispers, “There.”

His grip on her wrist loosens a bit and his hand starts to fall, but Riley catches it and experimentally moves her fingers against his. They both avoid eye contact, and Riley’s doing her damnedest to control her breathing as she stares up at their hands. She can see the glow of the stars in the background, and she’s so entranced that she brings his hand down in front of her face.

“When did you get this?” She’s referring to a scar on the knuckle of his pinky finger.

“A year or two ago. It was stupid. I fell of my bike, scrapped my knees, and banged up my hand.”

“How did I not know about this?” she teases.

“I don’t know, honestly. It was during the summer. I was with…,” he hesitates for a second, “Smackle when it happened. We spent a lot of time together that summer,” his voice drifts off toward the end of the sentence.

“Yeah, I remember that summer.” Her finger innocently goes back and forth over the scar a few times, and when she looks up at him, she sees him staring at their hands. He suddenly interrupts her movements by intertwining their fingers and bringing their hands to rest on top of the bed. Riley take in a sharp breath and tries to calm the beating of her heart. _What are we doing? What am I feeling? This is just Farkle._ _It’s just his hand. Just his warmth. Just his soft bed and musky cologne and sparkly blue eyes and..._ Riley’s trance is abruptly broken by Farkle’s quiet request.

“Stay here, Riley. Stay here tonight…with me.” She turns her head to face him and their eyes meet in the dark. He realizes how bold that statement was, so he shakes his head and comes up with an excuse. “Even with the stars surrounding me, sometimes it still feels lonely in this room.”

“I’m always here for you, Farkle. You shouldn’t have to feel lonely.” She pauses, bites her lip, and contemplates her next words. “I didn’t mean for it to be awkward when you mentioned Smackle. Both of us have those type of people in our past. And we’re best friends, we should be able to talk about this stuff, right?”

“Yeah. Smackle and I were close, and I really cared about her. But even with her, there were things that we didn’t do. She never spent the night here. We would never lay down like this together. We never talked like you and I do.”

“Because it’s easier for best friends to do this kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Riley shifts her body so she is lying on her side, and Farkle mirrors her position. She’s hyperaware of how their hands are still joined in between their bodies as she repeats the words she had just said in her head. _Best friends. Best friends._

Riley feels like she still needs to justify this more, whatever _this_ is, so she continues, “Because we’re more comfortable around each other.”

“That must be it.”

“Farkle, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“You and Smackle dated for a while, but you say that you guys never did stuff like this. So, what kind of stuff did you guys…” Riley loses confidence in her question and gives up before finishing.

She watches as his eyes widen at the question. Riley knows it’s not something he feels uncomfortable answering, but he probably wasn’t expecting her to ask it.

“We kissed. Sometimes a lot when no one was around. But that was it. We didn’t rush things.”

She burrows her head into the pillow and admits, “I’ve never had that. I’ve never even truly kissed for more than a second or two.” Her face falls as she thinks about Lucas. She’s over him and is happy that Maya’s with him, but sometimes she still feels a sting when she thinks about it.

“We have,” he says, but it comes out as a shaky laugh.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t a real kiss. You missed, remember?”

The shift in the atmosphere can be felt all around them. They’re just existing in the moment as they lie in his bed surrounded by the stars and the city lights and the quiet of his room.

Farkle replies, “I remember, but if I got a second chance, I promise I wouldn’t miss.”

They stare at each other in the darkness, feeling each other’s presence but not knowing what should happen next. Riley’s close enough to Farkle to map out the freckles on his cheeks and nose. She only now notices how many there are, and she feels so mystified that she swears they form constellations. There’s Cassiopeia, right there, high on his cheek bone.

It feels like they’re teetering on the edge of something previously unexplored right when they hear the sound of Mr. Minkus jiggle the door handle and open the door to Farkle’s room. They both jolt up, but Farkle thinks quickly and pulls Riley flush to his body.

He looks down to his sheets and whispers, “Hide.”

Riley gets the idea and makes her way under the covers. Once she’s fully covered, she feels Farkle tug the sheets up to his neck and pull her close to his body. He wraps an arm around her shoulder so her head is resting on his chest, and she instinctually wraps her arm around his waist to get closer to him. Now it looks like there is only one person in the bed.

“Hey, Farkle. I just got back and wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Mr. Minkus says.

Waiting for Farkle’s response, Riley can feel the beating of his heart against her cheek, and her grip tightens around his waist. Farkle takes a sharp breath in when she accidentally grazes the skin on his hipbone where his shirt rode up.

Trying to hide the fact that he’s a little out of breath, he clears his throat and responds, “Actually, yeah, I’m great. Thanks, dad.” As Riley listens to his words, she becomes fascinated with that section of exposed skin and absentmindedly draws stars there with her finger. It makes Farkle shiver against her, so he grabs her hand underneath the sheets and holds it still against his stomach to stop her movements.

At this point, Riley is anxiously anticipating for the two of them to be alone again, so right after Farkle’s father wishes him a good night and shuts the door, Riley slides up his body so she is level with him. This time, though, she’s far closer. Her face is just inches from his.

“You promise not to miss?” Riley blinks her eyes, nervously waiting for his answer.

“I promise,” Farkle whispers back.

She moves her head forward just the slightest bit so her nose bumps against his. She feels like there is a charge going through her. With their breath mingling, and their eyes closed, Farkle moves forward so his lips meet hers.

The first kiss is tentative, full of nervous energy and years of buildup. It’s sweet, making her toes curl at the sheer realization of what’s happening.

They pull apart to breathe for a few seconds and stare at each other in a moment of fascination. Then, they are drawn back into each other within seconds. The longing in the second kiss comes as a surprise to both of them. The stars above, the warmth from the covers, and the closeness of their bodies makes the kiss more heated than expected. Riley accidentally licks his lip as their mouths move against each other, and Farkle can taste his cinnamon toothpaste on her tongue. He lets out an unintentional moan that startles Riley.

Thinking she did something wrong, she backs away a little bit and confesses, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay. Don’t apologize. That’s new for me too.” He lets out little pants between sentences. “And…I liked it. Please do that again, on purpose this time?”

Riley licks her lips to wet them just before they reconnect. The intensity of the kiss makes Farkle press his body flush against hers. She thinks _yes_ , this is definitely right. It gives her the confidence to sweep her tongue lightly against his bottom lip between kisses. She doesn’t expect him to immediately respond, so she gasps when she feels his tongue tentatively graze hers. And then it becomes second nature like breathing. Their mouths close and open together, and Riley finds herself impatiently awaiting his touch every time their mouths open.

They break away to breathe again and take a moment to look at each other. Soft giggles fill the space around them, and she reaches up to playfully mess up his hair a little bit.

She smirks and says, “Hey, I forgot to tell you. I discovered a new constellation.”

Confused, Farkle asks, “Wait…what? You did?”

Riley nods and uses her finger to trace over the freckles on his nose and cheek. When she’s done, she draws a tiny star and then places a kiss in that spot, right on his cheek. “Here it is,” she says.

Farkle scrunches his nose as he smiles. “I’ve made a discovery too.”

“Oh yeah?” she teases.

“Yeah. This spot right here.” He lightly lifts her chin up and draws a star with his finger on her neck. He leans down and kisses a spot below her jaw. His lips hesitate on her skin, but Riley needs whatever he’s doing to keep happening. So, she lightly grasps at the hair above the nape of his neck. She thinks that should give a pretty clear message of what she wants.

Riley feels Farkle’s lips press down again, firmly this time. She tilts her head back and opens her eyes to see the stars above them. They’re all blending together now in beautiful swirls of white and blue because what Farkle’s doing to her is making it hard to see or think straight.

She feels his hand at her back, just slightly pushing her toward him, and in that moment she realizes how much she trusts Farkle. She feels protected and safe, yet on fire and completely, undeniably in love at the same time. And now, it makes total sense to her, because it’s Farkle.

It’s her best friend. Her brightest star.

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist (aka songs I used for inspiration):
> 
> Cassiopeia- Sara Bareilles  
> Move Together- James Bay  
> On Fire- Switchfoot  
> Tell Me It’s Real- Seafret  
> Be There- Seafret  
> Love Found Me- New Heights  
> Wonderwall- Oasis


End file.
